


Chain of Command

by Seathesilverlining (untilweseeawingshot)



Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Decisions, Gen, IR Next Gen, M/M, Tracy Grandchildren, chain of command
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-14 15:01:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29173080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/untilweseeawingshot/pseuds/Seathesilverlining
Relationships: Brains/Virgil Tracy
Comments: 8
Kudos: 15





	Chain of Command

2093

**

“Hey, Virg.” Scott poked his head around the door to the artist studio that was now more often occupied by brother and niece than just his third brother. “Are you busy?”

Virgil didn’t look away from his painting and took a moment to answer. “No, not really. I’m just putting a base down so I can talk.”

“Good.” Scott nodded as he entered the room. “Where’s Marie?”

“Finishing up some theory stuff for college. She hates it but knows it’s a necessary evil.”

Scott breathed a laugh. “Like father, like daughter then.”

“Exactly.”

Scott was silent for a moment.

“I need to talk to you.”

Virgil’s eyes left his painting then. “Oh yeah? What about?”

Scott closed the door and sat down on the only surface that wasn’t covered by art supplies.

“We’re not all going to be able to carry on forever. This job is far too demanding physically for that.”

“This is a conversation we’ve all already had, what’s the new stuff?”

“I’m getting to it, will you give me a minute to set up what’s been going on in my head?”

Virgil smirked and tried not to laugh, all these years later and they all still knew exactly how to annoy each other.

Scott rolled his eyes but smirked, maybe he was over-complicating things.

“We need to talk about our chain of command.”

“What about it? We’ve discussed this over and over. You, me, and Alan. With John backing us up, and Gordon and Kayo being left out at their own request, what else is there to talk about?”

“We need to talk about who comes after Alan.”

“What? You mean the kids?”

“They’re not all kids anymore Virgil. The only kids we have are Arthur, Piper, Wren, and Clover. And that’s only by age. We need to put things in place before an argument can start. We need to designate a field commander after Alan. Once we start dropping out there’s not a lot of years before we’re all out.”

“Well Stella, obviously. She’s the oldest.”

“She’s the eye in the sky, she’ll be their John.”

“Paxton then, he’s next.”

“Pax and Gen live in London full time. They’re Penny and Parker. We need someone who lives here, on the Island, in the heart of the action.”

Virgil stopped his guessing game and stared at him. He knew where the line went next, but he didn’t want to have to be the one to say it.

“What about Arthur? He’ll be old enough by the time you retire.”

“The others will have infinitely more experience. And you know how stubborn he can be.”

“He’s his father’s son alright.”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”

Virgil laughed.

“Where are you going with this Scott? You obviously came in here with an idea of exactly what you wanted and where you want to go with this, so just spit it out.”

“I want Marie.”

“You what?”

“I want Marie for next in line to take command.”

Virgil stared at his brother, not daring to say a word, knowing this had all been thought through over and over before he dared to approach him about it. There would be no going back now that Scott had the idea in his head. None. Not unless Marie said no.

“And I want your permission to bring it up to her.”

“You’ve never asked me for permission in my life.”

“Well now I am. She’s your daughter Virgil. Not mine. I wouldn’t want anyone asking something like this of one of my kids without talking to me first. If you’re not comfortable with it then that’s fine. We’ll wait a couple more years and take a look further down the line. But even if we did wait, she’d still be my first choice.”

Virgil sighed. “Let… Let me talk to Brains. He’ll probably say exactly what I’m about to right now, but let me talk to him before you talk to Marie.”

“Sure,” Scott nodded. “But for the record, what do you say?”

“I say; Marie is a growing young woman with a mind of her own. She’s free to make her own decisions in life no matter what, and I trust her judgement. I trust her ability to make the right choices for herself, and to look after herself. I think she’d be a good fit too, but in the end it’s up to her what she wants to do.”


End file.
